Birch House Lakes has relaxed its regulations on the use of keepnets. Having banned pleasure anglers from using them completely last year, the fishery is now allowing them to be used on Buzzard, Mallard and Teal lakes, although anglers must dip both landing nets and keepnets thoroughly before and after use. The fishery has also increased the cost of match pegs from £6.50 to £7.00.

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Book now for 2018/2019 Birch House matches

Birch House Lakes is proving so popular with club match anglers that slots for 2018 are running out. As a result, the fishery is now taking bookings for 2019 with some clubs having even booked events for 2020! Club secretaries should book now if they want to hold a match next year by telephoning Pat on 07796 874058 (mobile).

It is a sign of the success of Birch House Lakes that a fishery which started off as one small pool some 30 years ago now boasts nine lakes and 14 acres of water - with room to spare for the possible addition of other waters in the next few years.

Part of a 1,030-acre arable farm which produces potatoes and cereal crops, the fishery itself now occupies 15 acres and provides a mix of pleasure and match angling on new and established waters which should appeal to most anglers.

With plenty of car parking space, Birch House Lakes has a small fishing lodge where hot egg, bacon or sausage sandwiches plus tea, coffee and cold drinks are served from 9.00am until 1.00pm in summer as well as sweetcorn and pellets whenever the lodge is open. There is also a ladies and gents flushing loo. Birch House Lakes has the added advantage that most of the waters are suitable for disabled anglers whilst bailiff Pat is always on hand to offer help and advice. The fishery is open open from dawn until dusk.

Although Birch House Lakes probably won't appeal to out-and-out specimen carp hunters as it does not allow night fishing or the use of boilies, tiger nuts, chickpeas, cat and dog meat or loose feeding of floating baits, there are carp to an impressive 34lbs in Kingfisher Lake and to over 25lbs in Osprey whilst many rank and file mid-sized fish are caught weighing well into double figures.

Kingfisher also used to hold the venue's match record which was set during a New City AC match in June 2005 by Derby angler Ian Redfern who took 116lbs from Peg 16 fishing the pole in the margins. Whilst this may not be an earth-shattering catch by some standards, Ian still gets ribbed that he lost as many fish as he landed.

The venue's match record, however, is now held by the relatively new Horseshoe Lake which was set at 169lbs in 2014.

The biggest match weight to come from Heron currently stands at 96lbs although this was rivalled with an 84lb winning catch.

Proving popular is the Horseshoe Lake (right) which opened early in 2007 and is providing exciting sport on pole and waggler. Although only stocked in August 2006, this now holds the venue's match record whilst it can be relied upon to produce some decent pleasure weights with nets of 80lbs-plus being regularly taken and weights in excess of 100lbs not uncommon.

Another feature of Birch House Lakes is a large 80-peg canal-style Mallard and Teal predominantly silver fish waters which are ideal not only for those who want to stay clear of carp but being a quarter mile drive along the main access road from the entrance is also ideal from those who want to get away from other anglers.

Newest of the Birch House waters is Buzzard (left) which came on stream in 2011 and now holds a mass of small carp to 4lbs as well as roach and rudd to 12oz. This is an easy water to fish and is ideal for 'dads and lads' as youngsters can be virtually guaranteed to catch fish after fish after fish.

With a small quarter acre Doughnut Pool stuffed full of small and medium sized fish which makes it ideal for youngsters, novices and those trying new techniques and three other well-established waters holding everything from quality roach, rudd, bream, tench and perch through to rod bending mirrors and commons, Birch House Lakes should appeal to the most arden pleasure and match anglers alike.

Day ticket prices are charged per rod with a maximum of two rods per angler. Keepnets can be used for all fish except the carp and the only baits not allowed are boilies, tiger nuts, chick peas and cat and dog meat. Anglers should note however that when fishing floating baits they should not throw in free floating offerings as these can interfere with other anglers' swims.

2018 Day Ticket costs

Adults

OAP/Disabled

Juniors under 15

£6.50 one rod or £9.00 two rods

£6.00 one rod or £9.00 two rods

£5.00 one rod or £9.00 two rods

Matches are charged at £7.00 per pegA maximum of two rods per angler are allowed. Children under 15 must beaccompanied by an adult at all times

Lake One - Kingfisher

The most popular water at Birch House Lakes, Kingfish is about two acres in size and holds 35 pegs. The nearest water to the car park next to the Fishing Lodge, it holds a comprehensive range of fish and is suitable for all styles of fishing.

Kingfisher is shallowest at each end of the lake where there is an abundance of water lilies in about four feet of water. A ledge runs around the whole lake before the banks slope gently down to a maximum of about seven feet along the centre.

In summer, margin fishing with floating bread or dog biscuits is popular all the way round the lake, although anglers are not allowed to loose feed floating baits as these can drift into other anglers swims.

A popular pole and waggler water, Kinfisher is also a good water to fish the swimfeeder or Method feeder in the deeper water. During the mornings most anglers tend to fish on the bottom and come up in the water in the afternoon catching fish at only a foot below the surface.

When doing this, anglers obviously need to loosefeed little and often with hook samples and free offerings to keep the fish in their swim. Pole anglers tend to fish eight to 10 metres out using anything between a 10 and 20 elastic to a 6lb breaking strain line and 4lb bottom length and size 12 to 18 hook. Similar weight tactics are used by waggler anglers.

Most popular baits on Kingfisher are Ringers 4mm-6mm 'bag-up' pellets, yellow sweetcorn and pop-up sweetcorn fished a couple of inches off the bottom and luncheon meat. Obviously maggots and casters also work well although maggots can tend to attract the smaller fish which can be a nuisance until you attract the larger specimens into you swim.

Biggest fish in the water are the common and mirror carp, the largest of which in 2006 was a 34lb common carp taken in mid-water from Peg 9 on waggler fished luncheon meat a couple of rod lengths out. Although the commons and mirrors generally run anywhere between 5lbs and 14lbs, there are a lot of mid-20lb fish. The mirror carp are of a similar stamp to the commons although the biggest out in 2006 was 21lbs.

Kingifisher is also stocked with a good head of F1 hybrids between 1lb and 1lb 8oz which can provide plenty of fun and a few crucians which go to over 2lbs.

For the silver fish angler there are roach and rudd averaging 12ozs but which run to 2lbs; perch anything from 2oz to 3lbs; bream to 8lbs - although there are known to be specimens in Kingfisher up to 10lbs - tench betwen 2lbs and 4lbs which rarely show and both golden and blue orfe between 12ozs and 1lb. There are also a handful of ghost carp.

Lake Two - Osprey

At three-quarters of an acre in size and with 14-pegs, Osprey is popular with anglers because of the large number of common and mirror carp it holds between 6lbs and 16lbs. The biggest to come out in 2006 was a 25lbs 11oz common taken on luncheon meat from Peg 3 in July.

There are also a few leather carp which run to 14lbs plus a head of tench between 2lbs and 4lbs, although these are not often caught.

With some lovely roach and rudd between 2oz and 1lb 8oz, bream averaging between 1lb and 2lbs but running to 5lbs and plenty of perch, there are plenty of fish for anglers to go at.

Backed by trees and bushes along the bank which runs next to the stream and with plenty of bankside vegetation, Osprey is more secluded than Kingfisher with a variety of pegs.

The end pegs, Pegs 1 and 14 and 7 and 8, are again the shallowest with beds of lily pads in summer offering features for the fish. As a result these are usually the most popular pegs with depths in summer as shallow as 18 inches to two feet making it easy pole or waggler fishing.

The remainder of the pool has a shelf running about two feet out into the water before the banks drop to about six feet in the middle.

Techniques and baits for fishing Osprey are largely much the same as for Kingfisher with most anglers opting for the pole, waggler or durface fishing with bread or dog biscuits. Some anglers, however, opt to fish the deeper water in the centre of the lake using an Arlesey bomb and waiting until their rod bends round before striking!

Most popular general baits are pellets, yellow sweetcorn, luncheon meat, maggots and casters with summer anglers also finding that prawns, Peperami anbd tinned meat balls work well.

Lake Three - Heron

As with The Doughnut and Osprey lakes, Heron Lake is located behind the fishing lodge and is accessed by a footpath and bridge which takes anglers over the river.

With some good sized mirrors and commons to the mid-20s, Old English crucian carp to over 3lbs, bream to a reputed 8lbs, tench to 4lbs-plus, roach, rudd and F1 carp hybrids to 1lb 8oz, Heron is also home to a small number of ghost carp and goldfish.

About an acre in size, it has 28 pegs and again both ends of the pool are where the shallowest water can be found at about two feet with a maximum of six feet down the spine of the lake.

Although Pegs 18, 19 and 20 in the corner used to be deep, these have now shallowed up and been colonised by lily pads which makes them very popular in summer.

The biggest fish to have come out of Heron so far was a 23lb mirror carp taken from Peg 17 on waggler fished pellet whilst the average size of the commons and mirrors is generally between 5lbs and 14lbs.

Heron is again popular on both the pole and the waggler with anglers occasionally fishing a feeder, bomb or method feeder.

Floating baits are also popular in summer with dog biscuits and bread the most popular baits.

This can be a particularly effective method when fishing the margins on summer evenings, although anglers should remember that loose feeding floating offerings to attract the fish is not allowed as this can interfere with other anglers swims.

Horseshoe Lake

Although only opened in 2007, Horseshoe Lake is already proving popular with anglers, particularly those who favour the pole.

Dug in April 2006, it has been stocked solely with carp and holds an estimated two-and-a-half tons of commons and mirrors between 6oz and 22lbs and a good head of F1 hybrids to about 1lb 8oz.

With 36 concreted pegs set 10 metres apart, Horseshoe has been so designed that even when there are two matches on the lake there will still be room for pleasure anglers.

The water got off to a good start when the first match to be held on it was won with 75lbs with 68lbs taking second place, 62lbs third place and 44lbs fourth place. Between them the 20 anglers who fished the event caught over 300lbs of fish. The match record, set in 2014, now stands at 169lbs - the biggest match catch to be taken at Birch House Lakes - whilst pleasure weights of between 300lbs and 400lbs of fish are not uncommon.

Horseshoe has banks which slope at 45 degrees down to the bottom where anything between six and 12 feet of water can be found. Most popular technique so far tends to be to fish the pole about half way down the slope although on nearly all pegs it is posible to reach the opposite bank with a 12 metre pole.

With four islands planted with lily pads, Horseshoe Lake has its own car park with space for 25 vehicles and promises to become a favourite with club anglers. Most popular baits so far have tended to be sweetcorn, pellets and maggots.

The Doughnut

Despite being the smallest of all the Birch House Lakes waters, the 12-peg Doughnut still holds some decent sized carp with commons and mirrors to 16lbs being caught. Stocks were supplemented in February 2007 with over 9,000 small carp which have grown on nicely.

As its name implies, The Doughnut is roughly circular in shape with a central island and is about four feet deep around the edges and around the island with up to seven feet being found in the remainder of the water.

A great place for novices, children and anglers looking to try out new techniques or baits, The Doughnut is one of thsoe waters where you can't help but catch fish all day if you use maggots.

Developed originally as an irrigation pool for the farm, The Doughnut is the oldest water on the Birch House complex and is ideal for pole or waggler fishing with maggots, casters, sweetcorn, luncheon meat all being reliable baits and bread and dog biscuits again good as floating baits.

Buzzard

About two-thirds of an acre in size, Buzzard was stocked at the beginning of 2012 and opened for fishing in 2011 when further fish were added to boost stocks. With 21 pegs it now holds a good head of mirror, common and F1 carp between 4oz and 3lbs as well as good numbers of roach and rudd around the 8oz mark. About three-quarters of the fish are carp.

Whilst most anglers fish the pole, Buzzard is also a decent waggler water with banks which slope at 45 degrees and an average depth of between six and seven feet, although in parts it drops to as much as nine feet.

Because the fish in Buzzard are still small they tend to eat anything they can get in their mouths, making sweetcorn, soft hooker pellets, small pieces of luncheon meat, chopped worm and maggots popular baits. Also, because the fish are so easy to catch, Buzzard is an ideal water for parents with children who are interested in taking up fishing.

As with any water it pays to feed little and often to get the fish going and to hold them in your swim, but Buzzard is one of those waters where anglers tend not to measure their catches by weight but by the number of fish caught - which usually runs to over 100 in a typical four-hour session! The match record, set in 2014, stands at 86lbs.

Mallard and Teal Lakes

Also known as the Silver Fish Lakes at Birch House Lakes, Mallard and Teal tend to be regarded as one water as they are both canal-style venues ideally suited for pole fishing. However, the larger of the two - the three canal 55-peg Mallard Lake - has a large rectangular bay at one end which also makes it suitable for either waggler, swimfeeder or straightforward ledger fishing. Teal has a total of 21 pegs.

In addition to a few errant carp, both waters are heavily stocked with a selection of silver fish. These include roach and rudd to 1lb 8oz, bream to 8lbs, perch between 8oz and 1lb, chub to about 1lb, green and golden tench to about 2lbs and both blue and golden orfe and ide.

Although there are a small number of common and mirror carp in the water, the only other carp tend to be crucians, some F1 hybrids and goldfish.

Offering a total of just under 80 concreted pegs, Mallard and Teal run between four and eight feet deep and are great year-round waters which particularly come into their own in winter. Both are ideal match and pleasure venues and although not particularly popular because of the current trend for carp fishing are two places where those who do fish them tend to bag up.

Equipped with their own toilets and car park, Mallard and Teal also have the attraction for anglers who enjoy solitude that, being at the far end of the Birch House site, they are normally quieter than the other lakes - except on Sunday mornings when the nearby church bells announce the morning services!

Birch House Lakes on the Net

Birch House Lakes has recently developed its own website where further information and photographs of the fishery together with details of latest match results and pleasure catches will be posted.

Birch House Lakes can be found in Derby Lane just off the main A52 Derby to Ashbourne road at Ednaston.

Anglers travelling from the south need to make their way to the A38 and travel north until they reach the Park roundabout. They should then follow the A52 towards Ashbourne. Derby Lane can be found shortly after you pass through Brailsford. After turning into Derby Lane you will see the fishery and its entrance on the left.

Anglers travelling from the north can reach the fishery by travelling south on the M6 and then turning off north of Stoke on Trent and making their way onto the A52 or from the M1, leave at Junctiuon 25 and follow the A52 west.